PURIFYING THE TEMPLE OF YOUR HEART (3rd Sunday of Lent)

Today’s readings are the midway point in our Lenten journey, focusing on the relationship between God’s laws and the state of man’s heart. The First Reading begins with words many of us have heard frequently throughout our lives—the Ten Commandments. Before giving all of the Commandments, God proclaims to Moses, “I, the LORD, am your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that place of slavery” (Exodus 20:2). The God of the Old Testament is the God of the New Testament: loving, merciful, steadfast, and forgiving, who seeks the happiness of man. The Father provides the Chosen People with the Ten Commandments to show man them to love God and neighbor properly, and cultivate a pure and holy heart. Above all, the Ten Commandments help guide us to our ultimate end: life with the Divine..

John’s Gospel recounts Jesus’s response to the Temple-goers who have failed to maintain a pure and holy place for God, both in the Temple and in their hearts. Christ makes quite the scene in the Temple area: making a whip, driving people out, and turning over tables. Rarely do we see Jesus act in such an aggressive manner. Yet his anger is not unjust. The Son of God responds to the failings of man, who have failed to love God and give him proper homage.

First Reading Reflection

Through his covenant, God hoped to direct mankind in the path of virtue and love. The saga of the Old Testament, however, is largely one of moral failure. Even the righteous patriarchs fall with pitiable frequency. The consequences of these sins result in family rifts, tribal rivalries, and even war. Although God continues to reach out his hand to save Israel, his grace is persistently rejected.

At the point in which we find Israel in today’s First Reading, God has drawn his people out of bondage in Egypt, which is also symbolic of their bondage in sin. Having given them physical freedom from the Egyptians, he now reminds them of their moral freedom and commands behavior in keeping with the dignity of human freedom. Though Christ has already come, we are still required to observe the Ten Commandments because Christ’s work of salvation expanded the family of Israel to include us. As members of the Body of Christ, it is fi tting that we act in accord with our human dignity and reason by refl ecting the beauty of the Word to the rest of the world.

Second Reading Reflection

Today St. Paul contrasts the expectations of the Jews and Greeks with the apparent folly of the Cross. The Jews expected God to reveal himself in power and the Greeks expected God to be revealed in the highest knowledge. But they are both equally disappointed by St. Paul’s preaching of Christ crucifi ed. The Cross is the most unexpected way imaginable for God to reveal himself. But God chose the Cross over signs and wisdom because of the content of his revelation. As John tells us at the beginning of his Gospel, “God so loved the World that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16, RSV). Christ came to pay the wages of man’s sin and to reveal the love of the Father

Paul preaches Christ crucified because God loves, and commands us to do likewise. It is only through the Cross that we are able to be born into the glory of Heaven. God’s power and wisdom are really revealed through Christ’s Sacrifice, but only if we recognize that he became man, suffered, and died because of his eternal love for us. The Church is called to imitate the love of Christ crucified by revealing the love of the Father, just as Christ did, with an undying love that appears foolish and weak to the world, but in reality is the strongest power imaginable.

Gospel Reflection

Jesus drives the money changers and those engaged in selling animals for sacrifi ce out of the Temple with much vehemence. As he drives them out, he refers to the Temple as his Father’s house. In the Gospels, Jesus’s entire life and ministry looks toward the Father. As Christians, we are called to honor the Father too. The more we desire to honor our heavenly Father, the more we become like Christ. When Jesus taught us how to pray, he told us to begin by saying, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name.” The Father is the source of all blessing, and the greater our conformity to Christ, the greater will be our desire to love and honor the Father. Since we are adopted children of God, our primary duty is to honor the Father

PRAYER:

Put yourself in today’s Gospel reading. The temple which Jesus wants to purify is your heart and mind, for we all are temples of the Holy Spirit. Imagine Jesus reacting to your personal commitment to holiness. If he is peering into your heart, what sorts of things does he see?

RESOLUTION:

What in your life prevents you from being a pure temple? What would Jesus throw out for the sake of holiness? Ask Jesus to give you the strength to overcome temptation and turn your focus towards God. Ask Jesus to give you the guidance to devote your life to doing God’s will.

DIGGING DEEPER:

What Is Moral Law?

“The moral law is the work of divine Wisdom. Its biblical meaning can be defi ned as fatherly instruction, God’s pedagogy. It prescribes for man the ways, the rules of conduct that lead to the promised beatitude; it proscribes the ways of evil which turn him away from God and his love. It is at once fi rm in its precepts and, in its promises, worthy of love.

Law is a rule of conduct enacted by competent authority for the sake of the common good. The moral law presupposes the rational order, established among creatures for their good and to serve their fi nal end, by the power, wisdom, and goodness of the Creator. All law fi nds its fi rst and ultimate truth in the eternal law. Law is declared and established by reason as a participation in the providence of the living God, Creator and Redeemer of all. ‘Such an ordinance of reason is what one calls law.’ “

Opening the Word offers prayers and insights for the Sunday Scriptural lessons. Watch the video presentation that accompanies this reflection FREE at Formed.org.